Spying pies cooked on time (9)

I believe the answer is:

espionage

'spying' is the definition.
(I know that spying can be written as Espionage)

'pies cooked on time' is the wordplay.
'cooked' indicates anagramming the letters (letters cooked into a new form).
'time' becomes 'age' (an age is a period of time).
'pies' with letters rearranged gives 'espi'.
'espi'+'on'+'age'='ESPIONAGE'

(Other definitions for espionage that I've seen before include "intelligence" , "007's game" , "seeking information" , "Practice of spying" , "agent's job" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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